Many women have fallen down the rabbit hole of drug use to stay skinny, stay awake, get some sleep, and avoid having a total mental breakdown. Now imagine if you are a female celebrity. Your entire life occurs in the spotlight, and the normal societal pressures and prejudices women face are amplified to a ridiculous degree. Sober female celebrities serve a vital role in reaching millions of young women daily.
It is no secret that young people are highly active on social media and often follow celebrities obsessively. Having sober female celebrities as a source of inspiration or admiration can help struggling young female fans. Additionally, sober celebrities in recovery often lend their influence to educational awareness of women’s sober living programs and addiction treatment.
At Women’s Recovery, we recognize the challenges that women face during substance use. Therefore, at our women’s rehab, we treat both addiction and co-occurring disorders. In addition, we accept many health insurance plans. To learn about our outpatient rehab program today or our other addiction treatment services, please call 833.754.0554.
15 Female Celebrities Who Are Sober
Oprah Winfrey
In her 20s, Oprah Winfrey smoked cocaine. She would admit it publicly two decades later. The show she was doing included women who were struggling with addiction. One of the ladies was in recovery and was also seven months pregnant. Hearing Oprah’s story was deeply inspiring for her and kept her on the path toward recovery.
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore started her career early and hit unprecedented success for such a young star. This success had a lot to do with her addictions. She was smoking cigarettes by nine years old. By 10, she was an alcoholic. By 12, she was regularly smoking pot and had formed an addiction to cocaine. Sadly, such a fate is not uncommon for child stars.
Eventually, she would find her groove and stop using drugs and alcohol for good. Her career had suffered, and it would take some time before she would rebuild herself. Barrymore started her own production company, Flower Films. She has been highly successful ever since and is a mother of two children. Barrymore is committed to being a very emotionally available mom who puts her kids first.
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis became addicted to painkillers after a surgical procedure at age 35. She was given prescription painkillers after her surgery. This was the beginning of a battle for her. In 2010, Curtis was interviewed about her addictions after being sober for ten years. She stated that her most significant accomplishment in life was recovering successfully and that everything else would have fallen apart without a successful recovery. Jamie Lee Curtis is still considered one of the most successful women in recovery.
Nicole Richie
In 2003, Richie was arrested for the possession of heroin. She was caught driving years later with marijuana and Vicodin in her system. It’s also believed she also suffered from eating disorders which further complicated her substance use issues. Whether Richie had a co-occurring disorder is still in question, but she takes responsibility for her own self-destructive patterns. When asked if she blamed it on Hollywood or her famous parents, she said it had nothing to do with anyone. She took accountability for the problems in her life, and she also took steps to overcome them.
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie didn’t keep it a secret that she was a wild child before marrying Brad Pitt. She confessed that she tried every drug that was available out there. This included cocaine, heroin, LSD, MDMA, Ecstasy, and other drugs. She has long since given up those unhealthy habits. She has talked about the lows she would experience from taking these drugs and how she gave everything up completely. She hasn’t touched any substances in a long time and focuses on her health, family, and various humanitarian causes.
Stephanie Pratt
Stephanie Pratt was best known as the star of the TV reality show, The Hills. She had some severe problems throughout her teenage years. She dealt with many different disorders that fed off of each other. Pratt was depressed, had an eating order, and had a drug addiction. Multiple disorders, known as co-occurring disorders, make it harder to recover from addiction. Her road was a rocky one.
In her biography, she reveals her struggles back then. The show that had her in the spotlight didn’t show as much of her life struggles in the detail that her new book has. She admits to her crystal meth addiction, which began when she was 16. This was when she went to Crossroads School for Arts and Science, a private prep college. She took high levels of meth right away and became addicted very quickly.
On her 19th birthday, she went through a severe depressive episode and tried to kill herself with a deadly mix of Oxycontin, Xanax, cocaine, marijuana, and whiskey. Her mother came by her house without letting her know and saved her life. She continued to use drugs after this suicide attempt. The drug use would result in her being arrested for shoplifting in Hawaii. This still didn’t stop her from abusing drugs. She would finally overcome her addiction by going to rehab. Her journey wasn’t over, however. She developed bulimia while she was a part of The Hills cast. She lost nearly 100 lbs. All these disorders would require treatment before she could live a normal, healthy life.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor was interviewed about her time in the Betty Ford Clinic, which she went to for addiction. She was a legendary star with her stunning eyes and on-camera charm. She battled an addiction to drugs and alcohol for much of her career. There was an intervention in the 1980s that helped her with her recovery. She opened up about her addiction problems courageously to the public. This inspired others, helping to dispel some of the heavy stigma attached to asking for help. She has experienced a thriving career since and will be one of America’s sweethearts forever.
Fergie
Fergie, a singer for the Black Eyed Peas, has been very open about her past meth addiction. She started with ecstasy and then turned to crystal meth. At first, she found it fun, but like every substance you abuse, it begins to take its toll. She used meth so often that she began to have erratic behaviors induced by hallucinations. She was sure that the CIA and FBI were following her. Meth psychosis is one of the symptoms a person will exhibit when they’re abusing meth regularly. She would believe a SWAT team was waiting for her whenever she went outside. She got help for her addiction, turned to religion, and found success and love in her life. She once said that her past drug abuse was the hardest boyfriend she ever had to break up with.
Jada Pinkett-Smith
Jada Pinkett-Smith has admitted to having a few addictions in the past. She wasn’t diagnosed with sex addiction as a younger woman but said she used sex to make her feel better. Her mother was hooked on drugs for two decades while Jada was growing up. This caused a lot of damage, and with addiction running in her family, she was more susceptible to it also. She experienced some problems with alcohol abuse. She would drink multiple bottles of wine at one time.
Pinkett-Smith realized she had gone too far with drinking when she had gone through two bottles of wine and was reaching for a third bottle. Thankfully, she was strong enough to see the problem and quit cold turkey that day. She can acknowledge that many would be better off going to alcohol rehab, but for her, she just wanted to quit, and so she did. Most people need professional treatment and support and don’t have the strength to quit even when they want to. There is help for your addiction if you need it.
Mary J Blige
This amazing legend of a singer has had her fair share of past problems. At the age of 5, she was molested on one occasion. It wasn’t discussed, which was likely why she would experience depression as an adult. Blige tried to drink socially, but she could not enjoy social drinking. She would abuse it to numb herself and ultimately become addicted to alcohol. She drank to cover up her guilt, shame, feelings of abandonment, and depression. It was likely she was dealing with a co-occurring disorder.
The reasons why anyone abuses drugs and alcohol will often have an emotional layer that is being numbed. This is why rehab is so essential. Tapping into those emotions removes the triggers that would cause you to drink. This is the power of rehab treatment. Mary J Blige would turn to God instead of going to rehab, but it wasn’t effective right away. She eventually experienced an epiphany of God’s love for her regardless of her actions. In addition, she was deeply affected by the decline of Whitney Houston and realized that this was the power of addiction. She dealt with her addiction and has been sober for many years now with a successful career.
Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch has gone through a few addictions. She struggled with alcohol, drinking copious amounts of Miller Light beers. She got sober in 1991 when she realized she was drinking herself into the ground. She then got addicted to cold medicine. She had depression and called Nyquil syrup her ‘happy oblivion.’ Many people will experience depression and addiction at the same time. The drugs of choice will often be the perceived solution for depression. It actually worsens it over time and makes recovery more challenging.
Nyquil is an over-the-counter medication which means you don’t need a prescription. Nobody is monitoring how much you purchase. When taken in large enough quantities, the alcohol contained in Nyquil can cause intoxication. Lynch was concerned she was becoming an alcoholic, so she turned to Nyquil instead. She would eat a gallon of ice cream every day to give her body the sugar it was used to due to all the beer she used to drink.
She would take Nyquil before bed to soothe herself in lieu of beer. She considered herself a recovered alcoholic, not acknowledging that there was alcohol in the Nyquil. Her addiction to cold medicine worsened when she stayed in New York, appearing in the play, ‘The Brady Bunch.’ She felt miserable during this time, so she would abuse Nyquil to put herself into a deep sleep. Lynch would eventually find help for her substance addiction through Alcoholics Anonymous. She has been sober for quite some time now and speaks openly about her past addictions in her new book, ‘Happy Accidents.’
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci has been through some emotional turmoil throughout her career. She had anorexia for a time and struggled with addictions early on. Ricci started acting at a young age, and most will grow up far too quickly when put in this situation. She battled an eating disorder for about a year and a half. She entered therapy once they realized what was going on with her. The eating disorder and the problem of drinking were quickly dealt with by Ricci, which allowed her to get past each disorder with professional help. Although her disorders existed apart from each other, many women will experience both at the same time.
Kristen Davis
Kristen Davis is well known for her long-running character as Charlotte in Sex and the City. Prior to her successful career, Davis became an alcoholic. She admitted that her alcohol addiction was so bad at one point she didn’t think she would live past her 30th birthday. She has been sober since she was 22 and said the disease runs in her family. Luckily, she was able to see the early signs of alcoholism and stopped drinking. After this part of her life, she experienced much success in her family life and career.
Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has experienced some significant ups and downs with their addiction. They were sober for quite some time and were open about it. Fans have always admired their courage to speak out about addiction. In August 2018, they overdosed and spoke about needing time to heal and focus on sobriety. What they said at the time is that they’re learning that addiction isn’t something that is going to go away. It will always be with them, and they know they have to work hard to overcome it on a daily basis. They are honest with themself and the public about the fact that they weren’t ready to get sober.
Prior to their opioid overdose, they had been heavily addicted to cocaine. This came at a point where they were dealing with mental issues. Lovato said they had to work very hard in rehabilitation to kick cocaine and get past the mental health issues. In the closing of 2018, they sent out a message of gratitude, saying they’ll never take another day for granted again. It seems to be working, as there’s been no word of further drug problems in the media.
Eva Mendes
In 2008, Eva Mendes checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse. She did so openly, and her friends and fans were all shocked. This shows how effectively someone can hide their abuse of substances. It becomes a very lonely world because hiding means you distance yourself from those who could help. When she got out of rehab, she said she was proud of those willing to get help and face their demons to improve. She has been sober ever since and has two children with her long-term partner, Ryan Gosling.
Contact Women’s Recovery
Help is always available. At Women’s Recovery, we understand your struggles. We have programs that include treatment to help you break the cycle of addiction, heal, and find recovery. In addition, we personalize your treatment based on the assessment we compile during admission. We offer high-quality clinical treatment that ensures you have the support you need. You’ll have comprehensive and supportive care from our knowledgeable and compassionate staff.
Contact us today at 833.754.0554 or reach out online. We can answer any questions and start the recovery process so you can move forward with your life in a positive way.
